Curses and Blessings
by ventricosus
Summary: One would say that the blessing called life cut off from her so shortly, another would say that her soul had been waiting for the eternal sleep after years of curses. Her soul, traversing through the Abyss as their music, has something to say about that. A look into the eyes of Nanachi's treasure.
1. Blessings

Whenever the morning sky greeted the world without hassle, the shores an isolated beach would be occupied by the worn voice of an old woman and the enthusiastic chatter of a child.

Even though it was obvious on how much the child's steps was eager to greet the day, she never tried to leave the old woman in the dust choosing instead to pace around her as her cane took her fragile body one step forward at a time.

Sometimes the walk would end early with the two arriving home just in time for breakfast to be given away. Sometimes the two would end up stopping for anything that interested either of them and end up not getting any ration for breakfast. It would end up with the child sneaking into the Chief's house to get leftovers for the old woman's "late breakfast".

The kids around her thought that it was lame for her to spend an entire morning with someone as old as most of the corpses that were streamed down the sea, but they also enjoyed the idea of competing for positions that were held as "prestigious" in the island.

Positions that held experiences that were nothing compared to the stories the old woman had for her.

Today had been a day where the old woman found the island just at the end of the beach's horizon more interesting than the seashells the child had been collecting for her gear to play as the monster with the other kids.

The child decided that it might be okay to end the day with a bit more bruises than usual if it meant she could hear what the old woman had to say about that island. Storing her newly found items into her small saddle, she approached the old woman.

"Gramma! Do you have any more stories about the island with the hole?" She asked, her loud voice rivalling the roaring waves that clashed beneath their feet.

The old woman chuckled, "Oh dear. I think I've told you so much about what I've heard and seen that I might need to sail back for more stories."

"No, you haven't told me about the time you saw a white whistle take out a baby from a box." The girl pouted when the old woman's continued to smile, "You promised me last night..."

In response, she let out a sigh from her chapped lips. For a second, the girl thought that the old woman was angry at her but the way her eye crinkled afterwards told a different story.

"You've certainly become really interested in The Abyss as of lately. Haven't you?"

Hearing the name of the hole that she recently learned, her eyes lit up and her body was holding itself back from jumping up and down.

"I can't help it, it's like The Abyss is calling me to its deepest layers. I bet it has a lot of things that we don't see in here!"

The old woman turned her head towards the young girl, lifting a hand to fix the hair that stuck out of her ponytail to no avail. When she looked up, the child saw the the old woman's brows were knitted even if the smile stayed the same.

"You would be a great white whistle, Mitty." The old woman said, a solemn tone in her voice.

.

Ever since she heard those words, days and weeks flew by quickly. That statement echoed in her head as the hours flew by whenever she spent her solitary moments silently staring into the island just at the end of the horizon.

For some reason, it started to sound like an echo that called her into the pit of the island.

She wasn't going to tell anyone about it, her excitement for adventure tended to stand out from the other kids' attitudes. There was no need to trouble Gramma into taking care of her bruises for the umpteenth time in the week.

It's just that when she saw a ship headed towards the island, heavy with smoke and darker than the night, a part of her believed that this was the blessing those echoed voices gave to start her adventure.

.

"I am Bondrewd. A white whistle, a delver of The Abyss. Children who do not falter, even at the prospect of setting foot inside The Abyss, please step forward."

Sure, that old man had a pretty weird way of talking that she has never heard in her lifetime. If it had been any other elder in the village, she would've just stayed back and play with the rocks. But the second she hears "White Whistle" and "Abyss" in the same sentence, her feet had already taken her to the front of the crowd.

It was surprising to see a few of her friends step forward a few seconds after, though some of them did it because of the whispered dares between each other.

Mitty also knew that there were other kids who were as enthusiastic as her to see what The Abyss had in store for her and the number of those kids were definitely not small, based on the limited space Bondrewd's shuttle had to offer.

Shuffled and squeezed in between kids of varying appearances and personality, she thought about how this was the first step that she needed to take for her adventure to start.

.

Orth was everything the old woman had told her, yet it held so much more. Cramped houses and stoned pavements was one of the few things that she was still trying to wrap her head around, but the ever-present breeze followed by distinct white flower petals dancing around the town constantly she welcomed immediately to play around with.

Every single thing she looked at held more things that she wanted to ask the White Whistle about, but he and his people had left the kids to look around to take care of business that Mitty guesses people that held whistles took care of. Talking to strangers had been prohibited and she couldn't exactly wander around away from the perimeter that was set up.

It didn't stop her body from needing a break from the onslaught of visual information and her knees almost gave out when she turned to sit facing the giant crater that a few nights ago she would only dream of seeing. The old woman was right, she was literally dwarfed in comparison to how wide the hole was.

She wanted to go near and look down but an excited part of her wanted to keep that surprise for herself... or maybe it was fear?

"This is The Abyss…"

When she heard a scoff from beside her, she saw a boy that came from the same island as her. He and his friends were staring down like he had seen the hole as much as they'd seen the hurricanes that their fathers had told them about. Some of the kids were obviously trying to hide their amazement, but some were already gaping and chattering excitedly to the person beside them about the crater.

When Mitty and the boy locked eyes, he immediately bared his fangs against her. It was soon followed by the stares of the other kids around him.

"What are you looking at, stupid? Go away!"

Even amidst the new things that Mitty was to see more of, the disappointment that were inevitably brought by her own people never failed to hurt her.

Maybe when she's a white whistle, like what Gramma had said, maybe then the hurt she feels will be squashed by the adventures she had.

.

The bulky and heavily packed underlings of Bondrewd escorted them to a small room and left all of the kids with a single bar that tasted like the food that her Gramma would eat. After a few bites that were hard to swallow, Mitty decided to keep the bar as a souvenir for the old woman when she comes back as a white whistle.

Maybe she could bring a whole pack of those for the island, maybe that will solve the ration issues the leader always talked about.

But that wasn't what was important to her now. It was the distinct mix of snow and a metallic smell that sat beside her in the form of a person. Not just any person, but the future partner of Mitty when she becomes a white whistle.

The two sat together and the engines surrounding them outside the steel walls were enough heat that their blankets were bundled around their feet. Nanachi, as the person introduced, was silent after the exciting establishment of their partnership. She felt their body move around restlessly as their hands kept reaching for the book in their lap.

Back home, there wasn't a need to read - at least for the kids around Mitty's age - and the worn coverings and the small texts at the cover of the book kept drawing her eyes to understand it, even if she couldn't.

Well, the owner should understand about the things they owned. At least that's what the Gramma had told her.

"Hey, Nanachi. What's this book about?" She asked, mindful to keep her voice softer after being shushed by her partner.

A noticeable flinch went through Nanachi's body as their hands automatically went to the book while glancing at Mitty like seeing doll suddenly talk. Which she thought was strange because they spoke to each other just a few moments before the comfortable silence they were in.

"It's a book about…" After a moment's hesitation, Nanachi looked to Mitty's eyes with uncertainty and continued, "The Abyss. This book is about the Abyss."

The gasp was something she couldn't contain after hearing it and for a second, she wondered if this was what it was like when delvers found a Relic or treasure. Her hand immediately shot up to touch the book until she realized that if she couldn't recognize the language in the title, would she even be able to read it?

She felt a little guilty at the startled look Nanachi gave her, especially when she noticed her hands hugged the book a little bit tighter than before. After taking a small breath, she lowered her hands and asked the new question she had in mind, "Could you read it to me?"

Her sheepish smile turned into a grin when she saw her new partner visibly relax into the idea and nodded as their hands opened the first page of the book. Mitty leaned closer to them to see what the book's contents held for her and saw that Nanachi's focus was majorly on the book for her to be able to initiate it.

"So you see, the Abyss has seven layers…"

.

If she could choose a moment in her life that she could repeat over and over, it would be the hours she spent talking with Nanachi as they talked about anything ranging from the Abyss to the place where they came from. Under the warmth of the blankets, it felt like they were the only two people in the world and that nothing from outside can harm them.

Not even the flying birds that had been smashing their body into container and shook the whole room with. For the two of them, it had been a minor inconvenience in the reading process that Nanachi could easily adapt with and a source of excitement on what the Abyss has to offer for Mitty.

She decided that hearing her lack of reading knowledge was a good trade off on hearing whatever Nanachi had to say about the information they just read. When Mitty pointed it out, they said that it was just their cynicism getting in the way but the off-handed, snarky comments were a welcome response to her own excitement.

"...and that's why Relics and Treasures of the Abyss are considered a precious commodity around the world. Personally, I've never seen it but I'm pretty sure that's why half of the kids from my place chose to go here." The last part of the sentence was whispered quietly and she almost laughed at how Nanachi's eyes shifted left and right in case anyone heard them talking.

Regardless, she nodded along with their explanation with a question hinged in her mind, "If you could make one thing into a treasure, would it be your book?"

It made sense for her after Nanachi explained how the book accompanied them by their lonesome back at their place. Her own place didn't really have anything that she would consider precious enough to be a precious, but her Gramma might have come close into someone she could consider as one.

Though that has changed after she met her partner, but the way Nanachi's book seemed like an extension of their body - it didn't seem like they shared the same thought as Mitty.

That was why she was couldn't hide her surprise and confusion when Nanachi shook their head meekly, "Nnaa… not really." They said as their eyes adverted to an interesting corner of their blanket fort.

Strange was the only thing Mitty thought as she tried to process that information in her head, even though this was the same book that gave Nanachi the gateway to the Abyss just like how her Gramma's stories had been for her.

Glancing back, the way the light reflected Nanachi's eyes made her realize that they had been staring at her for a while with a small smile as if the answer to Mitty's question had been in front of them the whole time. At least, that was what she hoped as she couldn't hide a matching smile on her face.

"Then let's find a good one down there, yeah?"


	2. Curses

Even the unsteady landing of the pod didn't deter Mitty from her own excitement as the sounds and bumps that she had never felt before in her life made her head spin with the endless possibility of what the Abyss had to offer.

The way her companion had squirmed and looked uncomfortable during those moments made her think that they didn't feel the same as her, but she couldn't mistake the look they had when they arrived and how their hand tightened its hold on her own hand.

Out of everything that she had experienced during those days, it was one of the sensations that Mitty didn't want to forget as long as she exists. The small hitch in their breath that only she could hear and the way the beam of purple light reflected in their eyes was something that she could hear and see happening whenever she closed her eyes.

She was glad, because she thought she was the only one this excited about the idea of exploring the Abyss.

The group that she arrived with didn't get to do that immediately, but nobody missed the way each children trickled away for good as they were called out by Bondrewd's voice. It was unspoken when Nanachi and Mitty started to read more frequently and if there were other kids who listened in on their discussion, no one said anything about it.

She was usually tired by the time the lights in the room went out as she wasn't used to the onslaught of knowledge that Nanachi prepared for her. She never minded it as long as she gets to sleep beside the very person that provided her a lot of things that she couldn't name.

It's why she's surprised that her eyes was still open by the time she hears Nanachi's breathing even out. One of her hands was used as a cushion for their head but it didn't stop the other one from wiping away the attempted sleep from her eyes as she looked around her surroundings as best as she can.

The kids that were left in the room weren't as many as before, so they'd claimed a corner for themselves. What she wasn't aware of is how it made the room she had stayed in for almost a few weeks feel so big, especially with how the dark emitted from the dome in the ceiling made Mitty feel like anything could come out from it.

If the fear she was feeling about that was the case of why she couldn't sleep, though, she was sure that every night would be one where she couldn't sleep. As her head tried to process on whatever it is during the day that could make her not sleep, the small breathing beside her brought her back to the conversation she had with Nanachi before everyone fell asleep.

"Returning to the bottom of the planet…" Their words felt foreign in Mitty's tongue, but she realized that the idea of the faith in the Abyss didn't feel right when she thought about it.

If people could go on a journey to the place they desire, would that mean that they would meet again in the after life? What about her Gramma, or the people she had lived with all her life?

If she died here, would she ever meet Nanachi again?

Her Gramma wasn't one to selectively choose what she talks about, so she knew that being a delver had a high chance for death. If she told her past self that there was a chance of her going to the fifth layer within safety, she knew that she wouldn't believe herself.

Maybe there was a silver lining to this. The place one would desire couldn't be just something in this planet. It was alright if she wanted to go to the same place as the person she held dear, right?

Her thoughts were wiped away when she felt her arm being cuddled she found that Nanachi had decided that their pillow was Mitty's whole body heat. Something she could say the same about the person sleeping beside her. It was almost automatic when her other hand brought itself to Nanachi's back to bring them closer to her.

The uncomfortable feeling of not being able to sleep was ignored in favor of her consciousness fading away while she indulged in the whole presence of Nanachi.

.

"Come along, Mitty. Let's have a walk after today's medical check up."

.

Mitty trudged behind the man that had called her out of Nanachi's embrace, her eyes still bleary from waking up. Through it, she could see for the first time how tall Bondrewd was compared to her.

He had offered his hand so that she could take her time into waking up, but she was glad she didn't as her head cleared from the fog of sleep. The idea that she had to quickly lose her companion's warmth didn't sit well to her.

If she could be honest, this felt a bit too weird.

She was supposed to be excited and the medical check up didn't take as long as last time. So why wasn't she bouncing off her heels over the fact that she was going to take her first step into the journey she was waiting for?

Maybe it was the fact that the echoed steps of the man had echoed louder the more they walked, which made her think that they weren't getting close to an exit. Maybe it was the fact that the machine rumbled deeper the more she walked. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't holding on to a hand as small as hers through this all.

She wanted Nanachi.

With a little hesitation, she looked up masked man and could feel his eyes on her even though she couldn't see his eyes. He fully turned to her when she decided to stop walking.

"Do you need something?" He asked, his pleasant voice never sounding any different from the first time she heard it.

"Um… Mr. Bondrewd," She hated how nervous she sounded right now, "Is it okay if we come back for Nanachi?"

Bondrewd showed no signs of bristling but she saw him tilting his masked head uncannily to his shoulder, his gaze still assessing her in whatever equation he was doing in his head. She tried to return his gaze in hopes that he would take her request seriously if she did so.

"Why of course, Mitty." He said, his pleasant tone accompanied by the glow of purple brightened in what she assumed was a smile. It made her release a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Her mouth unconsciously mimicking the smile that she thought was underneath his mask.

After thanking him, the two continued walking. But she found it was odd that he continued walking forward instead of the way they came from. As if sensing her present confusion, he looked back and said, "If we go this way, we'll get to their room easier."

There was a part of her that sensed the fact that he was probably fooling her. She wanted to protest about how the branching paths already ended a few turns ago or else the echoing of the machines would be less suffocating than what she's currently hearing.

Her mouth closed as soon as it opened. A glance up into his eyes and how cold the glow felt in the dark corridors sent shivers up her spine. The only thing she could do, in this case, was look down and nod her head.

As the tension between the two drained away, the air around Mitty didn't only feel light.

There was a different smell that she thought her head was making up.

Until she realized that every single thought she had turned heavy.

Until she realized that her limbs felt heavier than ever.

Until her eyes only saw the cold and metal ceiling.

And the mask looked down on her.

Before she knew anything, everything went black, but if she strained her ears a bit - she could hear a voice she learned to recognize calling for her name.

.

When Mitty woke up, she was presented with the worst possible situation she's ever seen and a plan that would make her think that the universe was cursing her for existing in the first place.

She wanted to break open the capsules that were trapping her and Nanachi and run away from this horrible place. She wanted to run with them until they could reach a place the two could definitely see as safe. And for her, safe would be the palm trees and the feeling of the sea water and sand blending together.

For a second, she could see the two of them walking together in that place.

When another second of silence passed, the sound of machinery doing its work echoed the finality of her situation.

This was a trick.

She left home for this.

There was no adventure waiting for her in this place.

She could die and Nanachi could die. Or she could die and Nanachi would live.

Mitty could lose the only thing that was true if she didn't bear the curse for them.

She didn't want to lose everything else, but as the capsule slowed down on its descent - she realized that she was never going to come back up as anything she knew before. That was made clear by the creatures that were looking at her dead in the eye.

She had to accept her fate.

A strangled cry caught her ears and she instantly tried to get as close as she could to Nanachi.

Heartfelt affection and memories flashed by her eyes as only one wish remained in her head.

.

"If I stop being human,

Please... let my soul return to Nanachi!"

.

At first, everything was hot. The dry summer of her home couldn't even compare to how she could feel her blood boiling - as if all of her insides were stew that was going to be served to the starving children back home who couldn't wait for a feast.

She could feel everything leaking out from every orifice of her body. The hot fluid felt heavy and sticky and there was _something_ on it that she felt like were her insides alongside the red that she could see everywhere.

Her thoughts hurted. Moving hurted. And she could feel her insides going out and everything outside was going in. It felt like she was being emptied by a pail that kept scraping every single part of her out and children who didn't know better ripping her apart like pages to a book they don't care about.

Her insides was out of her.

And everything that was outside of her ( _the curse_ ) was entering her.

She could feel herself expand and shrink at the same time. Small blisters becoming huge ones and she wanted to just die already.

She wanted it to end.

She wanted the merging and molding of her body to end.

She wanted anyone to stop whatever outside forces was cutting her up and rearranging her over and over.

She wanted to run away from the confines that kept every single thing she was thinking smaller and smaller.

She wanted to not know which way was up or down anymore.

She wanted to stop tasting blood in her mouth.

She wanted to stop moving.

She wanted to stop seeing.

She wanted to stop breathing.

She wanted to stop being.

She wanted…

.

At last, it was dark. Her consciousness never went away, but the surface she could feel herself leaving imprints on were colder than before.

Every single foreign thing going into her body was making her body grow but it left as quickly as it entered. Thus she deflated again, but a voice comes out.

"Mmaa…"

It kept going as the foreign substance stopped being foreign and became a welcome visitor to this heavy vessel. As soon as she forgot the chore of cycling the familiar substance around her, she realized that she wasn't made of one vessel - there were small vessels around her that she could move if she wanted to.

Or maybe, she wasn't moving - as the only thing her smaller vessels could feel are the familiar substance around her. Just as it had been before.

(Maybe it's because she her limbs were locked by a similar matter as the surface underneath her - but she wouldn't know that.)

It didn't feel long or short when a different and faint noise from the ones she was getting herself familiar with came to her senses. Her body tried to get a sense of what it could be, but it felt like her ears were being blocked by the noises her own body made.

She didn't even notice the purple slice of light that had let himself into the room.

" _I don't think I've ever seen anything or anyone quite like you, Mitty."_ There was no movement, but she could hear a low voice that sounded so close like it was whispering right beside her.

" _You've definitely done your best. I'm sure your friend will be delighted to see you once they wake up."_

There was something foreign and warm that touched small parts of her body at once, unlike the cold one from before - this one moved on its own accord. It felt like it was shaping what her whole body was like but every stroke it does only left her much more confused than before.

It was too bad that when she tried to look around, there was nothing but the dark that had blended with purple.

What she did see was a gleaming light coming from an object near the source of the light. It kept moving from one place to another so often that her eyes had trouble following it.

" _...interesting. Your responses are very limited with your current form. Even mentioning your dear friend didn't do anything."_ It was the same low voice again, but it sounded far even though the source of purple light was closer than before.

Her eyes hurt and it kept making her see white, but she couldn't stop looking at it as it became came closer and closer to her face.

" _Maybe a little bit of pain would do the job."_

.

A lot of shiny things had intruded upon her body and soon after more foreign objects were attached to her body forcefully.

It never stopped.

( _She wanted it to stop. Somebody, please, help me! I don't want to-)_

Soon after, it wasn't just things entering her body. Some of the things inside her body were taken out, some of them were destroyed. It was a given when it came to those shiny things and the amount of gloved hands that kept numbing her senses and was _everywhere._

( _nononoNonOnONONONONONONONO! NANACHI. PLEASE. HELP M-)_

It never stopped.

Above all of those things, the one thing that she came to learn was pain.

It was the one thing the obscured people kept talking about, but it was the one word that she learned to associate with waking up to the dark over and over and sometimes there was something inside her that kept screaming but sometimes it was like there was nothing inside her.

.

 _Inside the tired body, a trapped soul kept captive by everything she could feel while nothing was around her tried to hear the numbers that were uttered quietly between the men. A small way she hoped that could preserve what was left of her own consciousness, as much as a lot of it were already stolen._

" _Nine times…"_

.

The door opened and stayed open. The light that shined into the room showed a small figure unlike the ones that brought her pain just by looking at them.

The small figure was easy on her eyes. Not just because she didn't have to lift herself to look at them, but also because of how their touch never resulted in pain.

It was strange how the small figure still looked the same, but they were as bulky as the man that usually held them back whenever they tried to touch her. She couldn't mistake the smell of fur and the gentle touch as she was suddenly able to see higher than she ever could.

" _Let's hurry."_

Though she couldn't see their face, the way their shoulders tensed and the shakiness of their voice as they slowly made walked around the encompassing steel hallways and hid whenever there were any sounds other than her own breathing was something that her insides could feel the need to latch onto.

When they opened a door at the end of the hallway, nearly similar to the one she would stare at all day, she was greeted by a lot of small, foreign, and cold substances crashing on her face.

The surface she was standing on instantly became cold. She couldn't see the small figure, but she did see a small mound of white right beside her.

The small mound shook itself and became the small and bulky figure again.

Her body immediately turned to the warmth of the still open door. The wideness of the cold scenery made her body feel numb and paralyzed.

" _...I'm sorry, Mitty. We can't go back."_ The small figure said as they closed the door. Immediately, she was on their back yet again.

And the only thing she could do was stare at the vast abyss of snow as the two slowly travelled through the thick landmasses of white.

.

" _Hey, Mitty. I found a new storybook today._ "

When the small figure put her down onto a surface that tickled the skin below her, all she could see was a color that soothed her eyes. A color different to the ones she was used to before.

" _Seriously, what are delvers thinking when they brought these down?"_

The small figure kept moving around until some of the structures that held the glow of the healing color was covered in a soft color that she could see whenever the man with the purple light blinded her.

" _Do you want to hear it?"_

The invisible object that surrounded her was strangely thin in this area, like it doesn't exist at all. At least, that's what the small figure said.

" _...of course you do."_

The small figure kept going back and forth between the room where she was in and outside where they usually got a new object that seemed to vary in form and size. What she recognized every time the small figure came back was the way their figure looked like it was ready to be blown away by the wind.

" _I think you'll like this story, Mitty. It's called the Sleeping Beauty."_

Sometimes, the small figure would spend a long time beside her, even if they often kept a certain distance from her body whenever their eyes looked dead.

Sometimes their hands were working on two fabrics and permanently attaching them together.

Sometimes, they talked as if there was another person in the room.

" _Once upon a time, there was a princess born in the kingdom. Everyone greeted her excitedly because the King and Queen wanted a child for a very long time."_

Items were thrust into her face and the spark in the small figure's eyes slowly faded away into something that was akin to steel every time they were met in silence.

" _Three fairies come to bless them - but one they didn't invite had cursed the baby princess to prick a needle wheel and die before they are of age."_

Before long, the pain was back - yet again. It was a different type of pain, though. It was the type of pain that the person inside her leapt for to experience. Items came in and out. Objects that didn't feel cold grew around her and inside of her.

It wasn't the endless torture like before, but pain was pain.

" _Nnaa, you're wondering why the curse is like that?"_

There was a period of time where the small figure would be huddling near her and latched onto her body. When they do that, they breathe just like her but their eyes were closed.

There was a part of her that wanted to stay there, but her body was not one that would listen to such requests.

" _...Personally, I don't think curses need to be logical to work."_

There were some actions that the small figure took that never happened again. It was odd enough that her body wanted to be close enough to see what it was, but by the end of it - those things wouldn't hold her interest for long.

Like that time the small figure tried to put a slimy object through the orifice on her front, which ended up sliding down to the surface.

Or that time the small figure showed a bunch of lines connected to each other - forming two people with one that looked similar to the small figure.

Or that time the small figure pressed their nose near her eye.

None of those ever happened again, a break in the monotonous routine that the two held.

" _The fairies ended up reworking it so that the spell could be broken by a true love's kiss and raised the Princess until she was of age."_

The deadpan voice of the small figure weren't the only thing she could hear, there were various types of noises that went about outside of her sight. Whenever she tried to look, the new person would usually be unresponsive. Like their voice hadn't existed in the first place.

The small figure usually looked the most hopeful during these period of time, but what usually followed was more pain for her body.

" _As she grew, she met a Prince and fell in love with him. I'm sure you've heard about this type of thing more times than I can count by now. But, in the end..."_

 _._

 _Nanachi shuts the small, carved storybook when Mitty decided that there was nothing of interest in front of her anymore. Choosing instead to gnaw on the various dolls they had sewn for her._

 _None of it brought back her memory._

 _Nothing about Nanachi was recognized within those wide and bulging eyes._

 _There was no cure for this curse, there was only release._

 _A release that Nanachi would realize come in the form of death._

" _If only we lived in a fairy tale..."_

.

There was someone.

It was a different presence than the ones that usually went about her. For once, her body felt like it was being pulled towards that presence.

This presence was different because their body was the same as her's.

(And for once, she could hear the same screams that had had filled her head for her whole existence.)

She wanted this presence to open their eyes, and maybe then she would be able to see the person beneath the body.

(She needed to see someone else.)

After a long period of listening to her wailing, she felt the voices calm down and the person opening their eyes.

(This person was also stuck. They were also as scared as her. She didn't even realize the tears running from her cheeks and how it warmed her soul for the first time in a long time.)

The warmth that this presence gives off only made her want to be near her all the time.

(She hoped that this person wouldn't stay stuck forever.)

.

Her body felt like it was still at home, but there was something different. This place wasn't as dark as it usually was. The only thing familiar other than the soft texture her body can vaguely feel were the soft unmoving creatures.

The small figure approached her, with the usual distance between them and her.

" _Sorry for keeping you here with me all this time, we'll meet again soon."_

And they leave, just like usual.

A light started somewhere in her vision, but it's shaking. The nudge behind her eyes says that it's a familiar color and type, but that thought doesn't reach anywhere as usual.

It's getting brighter and someone in her body recalls the sunrise and roaring waves of her home that she would usually get up early to see until she was bored.

What wasn't in the usual, was when she saw the bunny run back to her sight and the feeling of her soft hands cradling her. It was warm.

" _Mitty! I'm sorry, it's my fault! I'm so, so sorry. We'll always, always be together… okay?"_

For the first time in what felt like forever, it felt like the small figure saw another person through her body's eyes.

" _You're so warm… Mitty, thank you."_

Nanachi walks away from Mitty.

The light starts again. It gets bigger than anything she has ever known. The light burns everything in her sight and it gets closer to her. It's warm until her body felt hot. A familiar sensation that reminded her of the time she came to be.

And everything was bright until it faded into darkness.

.

This was what she wanted.

.

In a place colored with pipes and artificial light, a white whistle noticed a certain light signal flickering out.

In the recently burned sanctuary, the body of Nanachi's treasure was nowhere to be seen. The place smelled of burned flesh.

In the shared prison between two girls, the overwhelming smell of smoke and the absence of crying made a girl realize that the person who had accompanied her had stood up.

That girl walked away and when the delver caught a glimpse of her eyes, Riko remembered.

Unlike the girl, Riko still had to come back for something important.

Unlike Riko, the girl's soul had already returned to the Abyss.


End file.
